Saturday, May 31, 2008

Today the news reported that the U.S. State Department has withdrawn the prestigious Fulbright grant from seven Palestinian students who live in the Gaza Strip because Israel will not give these students exit visas to leave the country. The Fulbright grants - which are funded by our tax dollars and issued through the State Department - would enable these students to earn advanced degrees abroad.

...

The Fulbright grants are controlled by our State Department. Condoleeza Rice said today she would "investigate" this issue. Please email Condoleezza Rice.

Thursday, May 29, 2008

Does Dunkin’ Donuts really think its customers could mistake Rachael Ray for a terrorist sympathizer? The Canton-based company has abruptly canceled an ad in which the domestic diva wears a scarf that looks like a keffiyeh, a traditional headdress worn by Arab men.

Some observers, including ultra-conservative Fox News commentator Michelle Malkin, were so incensed by the ad that there was even talk of a Dunkin’ Donuts boycott.

‘‘The keffiyeh, for the clueless, is the traditional scarf of Arab men that has come to symbolize murderous Palestinian jihad,’’ Malkin yowls in her syndicated column.

‘‘Popularized by Yasser Arafat and a regular adornment of Muslim terrorists appearing in beheading and hostage-taking videos, the apparel has been mainstreamed by both ignorant and not-so-ignorant fashion designers, celebrities, and left-wing icons.’’

The company at first pooh-poohed the complaints, claiming the black-and-white wrap was not a keffiyeh. But the right-wing drumbeat on the blogosphere continued and by yesterday, Dunkin’ Donuts decided it’d be easier just to yank the ad.

Said the suits in a statement: ‘‘In a recent online ad, Rachael Ray is wearing a black-and-white silk scarf with a paisley design. It was selected by her stylist for the advertising shoot. Absolutely no symbolism was intended. However, given the possibility of misperception, we are no longer using the commercial.’’

(In case you’re wondering, the stylist who selected the offending scarf was not Gretta Enterprises boss Gretchen Monahan, who appears on Ray’s TV show as a style consultant.)

For her part, Malkin was pleased with Dunkin’s response: ‘‘It’s refreshing to see an American company show sensitivity to the concerns of Americans opposed to Islamic jihad and its apologists.’’

We're letting the "right wing nut cases" rise to new levels of ridiculousness.

Nobody really complained when Urban Outfitters and Delia's caved under pressure and proved unable to carry their respective versions of the keffiyeh for more than a week. Maybe those who appreciate the keffiyeh deserved this slap in the face.

The prospect of a remote association with "terrorism" (though in my book I'd call the Palestinian struggle one being led by freedom fighters) terrifies corporate America.

The commercialization of various Palestinian symbols dilutes their meaning and value.

Popularizing the culture of resistance might be just what we need - think of the 60s when everybody was a hippy and the will of the people actually mattered!

Update (05/29, 7:00pm):

Message from the ANSWER CoalitionBoycott: Don't Shop at Dunkin' Donuts!Say No to Anti-Arab Racism

The ANSWER Coalition and others are calling for a worldwide boycott of Dunkin’ Donuts. The boycott intends to send a powerful message to Dunkin’ Donuts and other corporations that engage in racism or pandering to anti-Arab and anti-Muslim racists.

Dunkin’ Donuts has capitulated and withdrawn an advertisement for its products following the allegation by a right-wing hack, Michelle Malkin, that the spokeswoman in the ad was pictured wearing a kaffiyeh, a scarf which is a staple of clothing traditionally worn by Palestinian men.

The scarf pictured in the ad is not actually a kaffiyeh. But the anti-Arab racism of the right-wing, pro-Bush ideologues like Malkin is so extreme that they launched their campaign because they “thought” the scarf was this traditional Arab garment. Dunkin’ Donuts pulled their ad apologizing that the scarf might even resemble a kaffiyeh.

In Malkin’s twisted world anything “Arab,” even a scarf, is “terrorist.” This is the same line of thinking promoted by the Bush administration in the wake of 9/11, when thousands of Middle Eastern men living in the United States were rounded up and falsely imprisoned. Some were even tried on phony “terrorism” charges. It is the same line of thinking that was used to promote the racist war drive against Afghanistan and then Iraq.

The fact that a giant corporation like Dunkin’ Donuts quickly pulled the advertisement is a sign that the pervasive racism, chauvinism and xenophobia peddled by right-wing bigots is a real danger. This is a classic tactic of fascist intimidation and demonization of an entire population.

We demand that Dunkin’ Donuts immediately apologize to the Arab-American community for this disgraceful surrender to racism. Until that apology is issued we will refuse to shop or buy any products marketed by the Dunkin' Donuts Corporation.

* What do we mean by "deforestation"?* How have the old-growth forests been affected by humans?* What are the consequences of loss of forest habitats and ecosystems?* What management strategies are in place to preserve, manage and restore forests?

1.Introduction

It is impossible to overstate the importance of humankind's clearing of the forests. The transformation of forested lands by human actions represents one of the great forces in global environmental change and one of the great drivers of biodiversity loss. The impact of people has been and continues to be profound. Forests are cleared, degraded and fragmented by timber harvest, conversion to agriculture, road-building, human-caused fire, and in myriad other ways. The effort to use and subdue the forest has been a constant theme in the transformation of the earth, in many societies, in many lands, and at most times. Deforestation has important implications for life on this planet.

Just think, originally, almost half of the United States, three-quarters of Canada, almost all of Europe, the plains of the Levant, and much of the rest of the world were forested. The forests have been mostly removed for fuel, building materials and to clear land for farming. The clearing of the forests has been one of the most historic and prodigious feats of humanity.

Area of Forest Ecosystems (World total:~ 34 million km2)

About one half of the forests that covered the Earth are gone. Each year, another 16 million hectares disappear. The World Resources Institute estimates that only about 22% of the world's (old growth) original forest cover remains "intact" - most of this is in three large areas: the Canadian and Alaskan boreal forest, the boreal forest of Russia, and the tropical forest of the northwestern Amazon Basin and the Guyana Shield (Guyana, Suriname, Venezuela, Columbia, etc.)

Today, forests cover more than one quarter of the world's total land area, excluding polar regions. Slightly more than 50% of the forests are found in the tropics and the rest are temperate and boreal (coniferous northern forest) zones.

Seven countries (Russia, Brazil, Canada, the United States, China, Indonesia, and the Democratic Republic of Congo (formerly Zaire) account for more than 60% of the total.

For millennia, humankind has influenced the forests, although much of the impact has been relatively minor. Today, the impact is enormous. Deforestation is expanding and accelerating into the remaining areas of undisturbed forest, and the quality of the remaining forests is declining. Today we examine global patterns in deforestation, assess the human and ecological costs of forest loss, and discuss some of the steps that can help to rectify this alarming situation.

Tuesday, May 27, 2008

The US better get used to the new rules of the game. Interesting article in the International Herald Tribune, excerpts below:

The accord that has resolved the immediate political crisis in Lebanon is the latest example of the new political power equation that is redefining the Middle East. It reflects both local and global forces, and 18 years after the Cold War ended, provides a glimpse of what the post-Cold War world will look like - at least in the Middle East.

Several dynamics seem to be at play, but one stands out as paramount: We are witnessing the clear limits of the projection of American global power, combined with the assertion and coexistence of multiple regional powers (Turkey, Israel, Iran, Hezbollah, Syria, Hamas, Saudi Arabia, etc.). These local powers tend to fight and negotiate at the same time, and ultimately prefer to make reasonable compromises rather than perpetually wage absolutist battles.

The Doha accord for Lebanon was much more than simply a victory for Iranian-backed Hezbollah over the American-backed alliance. It is the first concrete example in the Arab world of a negotiated, formal political agreement by local adversaries to share power and make big national decisions collectively, while maintaining close strategic relationships with diverse external patrons in the United States, Iran, Saudi Arabia and Syria.

The Lebanese agreement (unlike the failed Fatah-Hamas unity government) is likely to succeed because all the parties know that to live together peacefully they must make mutual compromises. This accord has been forged in the furnace of Middle Eastern demographic and political realism, in contrast to the hallucinatory absolutism that often drives American-Israeli policy in this region.

This is not a full defeat for the United States - it's more like a draw. It puts into concrete political form the most powerful force that has defined the Middle East in recent decades: the willingness of individuals, political movements and some governments to openly defy, challenge, resist and occasionally to fight the United States, Israel and their Arab and other allies.

I do not think it is fair to compare this deal to the one between Fatah and Hamas because the two situations are very different. For one thing, only a very small part of Lebanon is under Israeli occupation. Plus, the power and resources of Hamas are not comparable to those of Hizbullah.

But back to Lebanon - the deal is definately historical and is another blow to the US and its allies. The wisdom of the Lebanese resistance and opposition parties has gotten the Lebanese out of a very critical situation.

Friday, May 23, 2008

And the American academic Norman Finkelstein has been arrested and ordered deported from Israel. Finkelstein arrived in Tel Aviv earlier today on his way to the Occupied Territories. He was immediately detained and told he is banned from Israel for ten years. He’s expected to be deported tomorrow. Finkelstein is known one of the most prominent academic critics of Israel’s occupation of the West Bank and Gaza.

Tuesday, May 20, 2008

My name is Bilaal Ahmed, and I'm the former leader of your local jihadist organization, the Muslim Student Association (MSA) at UC Berkeley. I don't know if you noticed, but two weeks ago my cover was blown by a paid political advertisement in the Daily Cal from David Horowitz's Freedom Center, which revealed that we, the MSA, are a "campus front group for jihad." To think that the hard work of Muslims in America over the past 40 years to construct this front could be uncovered so easily pains me greatly.

I am writing to admit to you, attentive reader, that Horowitz once again is absolutely correct just like he was this past October with Islamo-Fascism Awareness Week. Unfortunately, we are still waiting for a terrorist state to be established so that we can all devote our lives to it and place its well-being above our own.

Since Horowitz already let the cat out of the bag, let me tell all of you just a few ways your MSA at Berkeley has supported terror this past year: We made terrorism-laced sandwiches on Sproul to give to homeless people at least once a month, hoping that they would join our cause; we organized a team of 70 Muslims to participate in Relay for Life on behalf of the American Cancer Society, hoping that one day we will be able to use cancer as a biological weapon; we held a charity event and raised $1,000 for Save the Children (of terrorists, of course). Oh, and before I forget, we've occasionally held ice cream socials, dinners, bowling nights, barbeques, broom-balling, ski trips and get this, we play football on some Fridays to pretend that we love America. As you can easily tell, all our activities are designed to foster extremely close relationships among the members of our terrorist organization so that when one of us goes out for a jihadi terrorist mission, we can all get super depressed when they do not come back alive.

We also spearheaded a massive campaign to recruit others to stand in solidarity with our terrorist cause. We had to do this in the most creative manner possible so we voiced our concern as the need for "peace" (May God protect us from it!). You may have heard of the so-called "Peace Not Prejudice Week." Unfortunately, our plan backfired and we ended up uniting groups for the "worthy" cause of peace and not prejudice which was by no means our intention. We preferred the slogan "Prejudice Not Peace," but that did not seem to go over well with other members of the coalition.

Not to mention we also host weekly self-betterment series for our members, in which we help them hone their terrorism skills and encourage open dialogue about issues in Islam-oh I am sorry-Islamo-Fascism. We are currently working on expanding our services to include TIP, the Terrorism Improvement Project, in an effort to network with other local terrorists and help our members reach out to leaders in the greater terrorist community. TAP (Terrorism Awareness Project), take that!

Clearly, MSA is just not doing a good enough job of hiding its terrorist activities. In fact, we would like to thank Horowitz for spending so much of his own private funding and time on an ad that got us free publicity and landed us on the map. If you see our table on Sproul, please stop by, ask questions and leave with a better sense of terrorism in Berkeley. Oh and don't forget to pick up some pamphlets about Islamo-Fascism and give them to your friends!

Monday, May 19, 2008

(born Malcolm Little; May 19, 1925 – February 21, 1965),also known as El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz,[ was an American Black Muslim minister and a spokesman for the Nation of Islam.

After leaving the Nation of Islam in 1964, he made the pilgrimage, the Hajj, to Mecca and became a Sunni Muslim. He also founded the Muslim Mosque, Inc. and the Organization of Afro-American Unity. Less than a year later, he was assassinated in Washington Heights on the first day of National Brotherhood Week.

Historian Robin D.G. Kelley wrote, "Malcolm X has been called many things: Pan-Africanist, father of Black Power, religious fanatic, closet conservative, incipient socialist, and a menace to society. The meaning of his public life — his politics and ideology — is contested in part because his entire body of work consists of a few dozen speeches and a collaborative autobiography whose veracity is challenged. Malcolm has become a sort of tabula rasa, or blank slate, on which people of different positions can write their own interpretations of his politics and legacy. Chuck D of the rap group Public Enemy and Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas can both declare Malcolm X their hero.

Malcolm X returning from Mecca, Saudi Arabia on 21 May 1964, after having performed Hajj.

Oxford University Debate:

"I read once, passingly, about a man named Shakespeare. I only read about him passingly, but I remember one thing he wrote that kind of moved me. He put it in the mouth of Hamlet, I think, it was, who said, "To be or not to be." He was in doubt about something. Whether it was nobler in the mind of man to suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, moderation, or to take up arms against a sea of troubles and by opposing end them. And I go for that. If you take up arms, you'll end it, but if you sit around and wait for the one who's in power to make up his mind that he should end it, you'll be waiting a long time. And in my opinion, the young generation of whites, blacks, browns, whatever else there is, you're living at a time of extremism, a time of revolution, a time when there's got to be a change. People in power have misused it and now there has to be a change and a better world has to be built and the only way it's going to be built is with extreme methods. And I, for one, will join in with anyone, I don't care what color you are, as long as you want to change this miserable condition that exists on this earth.” –MX

From his very last speech:

"Recently when I was blessed to make a religious pilgrimage to the holy city of Mecca where I met many people from all over the world, plus spent many weeks in Africa trying to broaden my own scope and get more of an open mind to look at the problem as it actually is, one of the things that I realized, and I realized this even before going over there, was that our African brothers have gained their independence faster than you and I here in America have. They've also gained recognition and respect as human beings much faster than you and I. Just ten years ago on the African continent, our people were colonized. They were suffering all forms of colonization, oppression, exploitation, degradation, humiliation, discrimination, and every other kind of -ation. And in a short time, they have gained more independence, more recognition, more respect as human beings than you and I have. And you and I live in a country which is supposed to be the citadel of education, freedom, justice, democracy, and all of those other pretty-sounding words. So it was our intention to try and find out what it was our African brothers were doing to get results, so that you and I could study what they had done and perhaps gain from that study or benefit from their experiences." Malcolm X makes it plain that he is opposed to the philosophy of Martin Luther King.” –MX

Sunday, May 18, 2008

Last night at Cannes saw the premiere of a remarkable new Israeli film, Waltz With Bashir. It's a soldier's eye view of the Sabra and Shatila camp killings in 1982 - still one of the most shameful episodes in Israeli history, in which IDF units stood by as Lebanese Christian Phalangists brutally attacked Palestinian civilians. The exact number of deaths is not known, varying between Red Cross estimates of 7-800, and Phalangist claims of 2-3000. The Bashir in the title refers to Bashir Gemayel, the Lebanese president-elect whose murder in 1982 triggered the Phalangists' rampage.

This film is remarkable, for one, in the very that it exists at all: it is a mea culpa, created by someone intimately connected with events. Director (and central figure) Ari Folman doesn't attempt to evade, soft-pedal or make excuses. He presents the film as therapy; his own attempt to recover the blocked memories of what actually happened. In doing so, he himself makes an explicit connection between the death camps Jews had fled in Europe, and the refugee camps in which Palestinians were housed and brutalised in Lebanon. Folman isn't pulling any punches.

Saturday, May 17, 2008

This is awesome. The world’s first 100% Solar Power Run Village! The technology is definitely out there to build sustainable communities. Please read the article it’s very informative…also if you have some time, go here to check out a 300 mpg car. Too bad corporations don’t really care about us or the earth, otherwise they’d realize the grave danger our beautiful ecosystems are in, and start producing items that are affordable to EVERYONE and not make it all about profits. Ok here is the article:

Donggwang is on the western half of Jeju-do the largest of South Korea’s semi-tropical southern islands. Near the village, Halla Mountain, a volcano and the tallest mountain in South Korea, rises from the island’s center amidst a patchwork of small farms.

Donggwang has achieved what even the most powerful countries in the world are still struggling to accomplish: total energy independence with clean technology.

On the roof of each of the 40 houses in Donggwang lies a large beds of solar panels. Even the small, local elementary school runs on free electric energy from the sun. The photovoltaic panels produce enough energy to power the entire area. Amidst cattle and fields, Donggwang is a state-of-the-art renewable energy village.

I spoke with Choo Chan Lee, who lives in Donggwang. Mr. Lee, a Seoul native, retired to Donggwang green village after operating a successful grocery store in New York for many years. He and his wife invited my in for tea to talk about the solar system and their life in Donggwang.

“Dongwang is a solar town,” Mr. Lee says. “[The solar systems] are a lot of help for us. Mine is 2.1 kW.”

In 2004, the government helped to install solar systems in Donggwang, paying 70% of the installation fees.

“They told us this is your town,” recalls Mr. Lee. “Do you wand them or not? We said that we would like them.”

When asked whether he is concerned about environmental issues, Mr. Lee replies casually, “Yeah, the environment is a very important issue. In Jeju we don’t have many factories, so the air is very nice. Very nice environment. The motto is a clean city - clean island. They’re trying to do this solar and then the windmills. My favorite part of living in Jeju is the fresh air. The clean air.”

Thursday, May 15, 2008

All week long, I have been trying hard to ignore anything to do with the 60th anniversary of the Nakbah. Maybe because all the optimisim and faith I can muster will not make the fact that the Apartheid state of Israel has been allowed to exist and excercise its brutality for the past 60 years any less depressing. Not only has the Apartheid state been allowed to exist, it has been given unmatched support from most of the world.

What I am sure of though is that there grand, grand children, and their children will never forget what happened to their forefathers and will not easily give up their right to return to their homeland, no matter how hard that is to swallow by the rest of the world.

In a much-anticipated ruling issued Thursday, the California Supreme Court struck down the state's ban on same-sex marriage as unconstitutional.

Several gay and lesbian couples, along with the city of San Francisco and gay rights groups, sued to overturn state laws allowing only marriages between a man and a woman.

"There can be no doubt that extending the designation of marriage to same-sex couples, rather than denying it to all couples, is the equal protection remedy that is most consistent with our state's general legislative policy and preference," said the 120-page ruling.It said that the state law's language "limiting the designation of marriage to a 'union between a man and a woman' is unconstitutional, and that the remaining statutory language must be understood as making the designation of marriage available to both opposite-sex and same-sex couples."

With the ruling, California becomes the second state to allow same-sex couples to legally wed. Massachusetts adopted the practice in 2004, and couples don't need to be state residents to wed there....Oral arguments in the case in March lasted more than three hours, a sign of the political and legal issues at stake. Six cases were consolidated.

Groups saying they were promoting a pro-family agenda had vowed to fight a statewide law allowing same-sex marriage.

"The government should promote and encourage strong families," said Glen Lavy of the Alliance Defense Fund. "The voters realize that defining marriage as one man and one woman is important because the government should not, by design, deny a child both a mother and father."

An appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court is likely. The federal high court has never addressed the question of same-sex marriage.

My incoherent thoughts in no particular order (taken from various conversations I've had this morning):

It's a situation of church and state separation. The second you remove the religious basis from the argument against gay marriage, there is no logical explanation for the ban. None, whatsoever. The lamest ones I've heard (and yes the government lawyers did attempt to use some of these before the Supreme Court:

Marriage is traditionally between a man and a woman.*Well, remember our traditions of lynching people? Or our traditional ban on interracial marriage?

Procreation: gay couples cannot procreate and thus should not be allowed to marry. *Many straight couples are infertile. Should they also not be allowed to marry?

Domestic partnerships are sufficient. Same sex couples can get the same rights straight couple get via marriage thru registered domestic partnerships. *Separate but equal isn't Constitutional. Refer to the school integration cases for a full explanation on that one..

It's really awkward seeing Muslims get upset about this decision. I understand what the mainstream Islamic approach to homosexuality is, and I'm not disagreeing with that. However, we need to be able to distinguish the two necessary approaches to this situation:

The Islamic law approach

The civil rights advocate approach

The problem is the two overlap for a lot of us.

I don't have a solution per se. How do you reconcile your Islamic beliefs with a concern for fairness in this society? (Remember, we have not earned an Islamic state. We do not live in one. If we can all shape up and attain that, the discussion of appropriate laws in that setting can be had.) What I can say is the solution is not for us to get upset and vile, attempting to advocate for a selective separation of church and state. Oh yes the government should not impose Christianity on us, but it should on same sex couples?

Maybe a better solution is to:

Educate ourselves so that we fully understand Islam's approach to homosexuality. You'd be surprised at some of the hateful comments I'v seen just this morning.

Properly be able to distinguish between the two approaches to the issue.

Realize that here and now, today, the American Muslim community has other fish to fry:

Muslim couples are having issues adopting homeless children because of their faith.

Guantanamo Bay is still up and running.

McCain's spiritual adviser wants to annihilate Islam

Today marks 60 years of occupation in Palestine. 60 years of apartheid, oppression and state sponsored terrorism.

And we're going to get upset because the court has decided that two people of the same gender can now share health plans?

In the end, Allah (swt) knows best.

***This is one of those times where we really want to hear from readers. We are curious to know what you think. All thoughts (except the hateful kind) are welcomed. Comment anonymously if you please, but do comment.***

Wednesday, May 14, 2008

The NY Times got an inside scoop on how love stories are built in the Kingdom:

“Girls? I have something to tell you,” Alia faltered, appearing to sway slightly on her high heels. She paused anxiously, and the next words came out in a rush. “I’ve gotten engaged!” There was a chorus of shrieks at the surprise announcement and Alia burst into tears, as did several of the other girls.

Ms. Othman’s mother smiled knowingly and left the room, leaving the girls to their moment of emotion. The group has been friends since they were of middle-school age, and Alia would be the first of them to marry.

A cellphone picture of Alia’s fiancé — a 25-year-old military man named Badr — was passed around, and the girls began pestering Alia for the details of her showfa. A showfa — literally, a “viewing” — usually occurs on the day that a Saudi girl is engaged.

A girl’s suitor, when he comes to ask her father for her hand in marriage, has the right to see her dressed without her abaya.In some families, he may have a supervised conversation with her. Ideally, many Saudis say, her showfa will be the only time in a girl’s life that she is seen this way by a man outside her family.

The separation between the sexes in Saudi Arabia is so extreme that it is difficult to overstate. Saudi women may not drive, and they must wear black abayas and head coverings in public at all times. They are spirited around the city in cars with tinted windows, attend girls-only schools and university departments, and eat in special “family” sections of cafes and restaurants, which are carefully partitioned from the sections used by single male diners....Most of the girls say their faith, in the strict interpretation of Islam espoused by the Wahhabi religious establishment here, runs very deep. They argue a bit among themselves about the details — whether it is acceptable to have men on your Facebook friend list, or whether a male first cousin should ever be able to see you without your face covered — and they peppered this reporter with questions about what the young Saudi men she had met were thinking about and talking about.

But they seem to regard the idea of having a conversation with a man before their showfas and subsequent engagements with very real horror. When they do talk about girls who chat with men online or who somehow find their own fiancés, these stories have something of the quality of urban legends about them: fuzzy in their particulars, told about friends of friends, or “someone in my sister’s class.”

Well-brought-up unmarried young women here are so isolated from boys and men that when they talk about them, it sometimes sounds as if they are discussing a different species.

Questions for the Fiancé

Later that evening, over fava bean stew, salad, and meat-filled pastries, Alia revealed that she was to be allowed to speak to her fiancé on the phone. Their first phone conversation was scheduled for the following day, she said, and she was so worried about what to say to Badr that she was compiling a list of questions.

“Ask him whether he likes his work,” one of her friends suggested. “Men are supposed to love talking about their work.”

“Ask him what kind of cellphone he has, and what kind of car,” suggested another. “That way you’ll be able to find out how he spends his money, whether he’s free with it or whether he’s stingy.”...It is considered embarrassing to admit to much strong feeling for a fiancé before the wedding and, before their engagements, any kind of contact with a man is out of the question. Even so, young women here sometimes resort to clandestine activities to chat with or to meet men, or simply to catch a rare glimpse into the men’s world.

Though it is as near to hand as the offices they pass each morning on the way to college, or the majlis, a traditional home reception room, where their fathers and brothers entertain friends, the men’s world is so remote from them that some Saudi girls resort to disguise in order to venture into it.

At Prince Sultan University, where Atheer Jassem al-Othman, 18, is a first-year law student, a pair of second-year students recently spent a mid-morning break between classes showing off photographs of themselves dressed as boys.

In the pictures, the girls wore thobes, the ankle-length white garments traditionally worn by Saudi men, and had covered their hair with the male headdresses called shmaghs. One of the girls had used an eyeliner pencil to give herself a grayish, stubble-like mist along her jaw line. Displayed on the screens of the two girls’ cellphones, the photographs evoked little exclamations of congratulation as they were passed around.

“A lot of girls do it,” said an 18-year-old named Sara al-Tukhaifi who explained that a girl and her friends might cross-dress, sneaking thobes out of a brother’s closet, then challenge each other to enter the Saudi male sphere in various ways, by walking nonchalantly up to the men-only counter in a McDonalds, say, or even by driving....Flirting by Phone

A woman can’t switch her phone’s Bluetooth feature on in a public place without receiving a barrage of the love poems and photos of flowers and small children which many Saudi men keep stored on their phones for purposes of flirtation. And last year, Al Arabiya television reported that some young Saudis have started buying special “electronic belts,” which use Bluetooth technology to discreetly beam the wearer’s cellphone number and e-mail address at passing members of the opposite sex.

Friday, May 9, 2008

Hadith during the time of the Companions and their followers (may Allah be please with them)

This section of the book has amazing stories which were my motivation behind starting this whole series of posts. It took a while to get here, but alhamdulilAllah, I hope the posts so far have been somewhat beneficial.

After the death of the Prophet of Allah (peace be upon him), the Companions realized the great responsibility on their shoulders of preserving the primary sources of Shariah: the Quran and Sunnah.

With regards to the Sunnah, a great deal of time and effort were devoted to collecting, learning, and teaching hadith.

Abdullah Ibn Abbas narrates that after the death of the Prophet (peace be upon him)[he was 12-13 years old then], he said to one of the ansar: let us go and ask the companions of the Prophet of Allah [about hadith], for they are many today. The man replied in wonder: [I am] surprised at you O ibn Abbas...do you think people are in need of you, and amongst them are the many companions of Prophet? Nevertheless, Ibn Abbas pursued the knowledge of Hadith from the companions of the Prophet of Allah. He would hear of a man [who knows Hadith] and would go to his door while he is having his afternoon nap, and would stay at the doorstep with the winds throwing sand at him until the man comes out at says: O cousin of the Prophet of Allah, what has brought you here? Why did you not call for me and I would have come to you? Ibn Abbas would reply: it is more befitting that I come to you and ask you about Hadith.

[Al Jami` li Akhlaq ar-Rawi wa Adab as-Sami`, page 24]

This story made me stop and think. We often hear the name of ibn Abbas when it comes to narrating hadith, but I never thought of what he had to go through to learn that hadith. And although there were many older companions living in Medinah at the time, rather than allow himself to take a back seat and rely on their knowledge, that motivated him to learn hadith from them.

The companions, may Allah be pleased with them, did their best to pass on the love of Hadith to the next generation and stress the importance of learning and sharing Hadith, from an early age, and their followers did the same with the next generation.

There are many stories of the unmatched dedication and passion of the teachers of Hadith which allowed this science to spread and flourish, of which one is below:

al-Waleed bin Utbah would teach Hadith at Masjid Al-Jabiyah (in Damascus), and there was a man who would join the class after a quarter or a third of it were over so he would repeat what he said for him. When this happened several times al-Waled asked the man about the reason for his delay and the man answered: I am a man with the responsibility of spending on my family, and I have a small shop in Beit Lihya [a town near Damascus]. If I do not buy its needs early, close the store and coming running, I risk losing my source of income. al-Waleed replied: I do not [want to] see you here again. al-Waleed would teach his class at the masjid, and then take his book and go to Beit Lahiya to re-teach the lesson to the man at his shop.

[Al Jami` li Akhlaq ar-Rawi wa Adab as-Sami`, page 36]

Not anyone would be allowed to become a student of Hadith; it was an honor and privilige reserved to those students who had proven themselves by studying and memorizing all or most of the Quran. There were also manners and etiquettes to be kept when studying Hadith , attending a class, or even asking a question. For example, most scholars would not discuss Hadith without being in a state of purity (wudu`).

The journey in pursuit of Hadith

During the time of the companions and the two generations after them, students and scholars of hadith would travel thousands of miles to hear one hadith from a companion who heard it directly from the Prophet of Allah (peace be upon him).

Al Ata` ibn Rabih narrates:

Abu Ayoub al-Ansari set out to ask Uqbah bin Amir about a hadith he had heard from the Prophet of Allah (peace be upon him), and Uqbah was the only remaining companion who had heard it with him. When Abu Ayyoub reached the house of Maslamah ibn Mukhlad al-Ansari, who was the ruler of Egypt at the time,...Maslamah came out and hugged him, then said: what has brought you here O Abu Ayoub? He replied: a hadith I heard from the Prophet of Allah (peace be upon him), and none of the people who heard it from the Prophet of Allah (peace be upon him) remain except myself and Uqbah, so send someone to show me his house. So he sent someone to show him Uqbah's house, and told Uqbah. Uqbah came running out, hugged Abu Ayoub and asked: what brought you here O Abu Ayoub? He replied: He replied: a hadith I heard from the Prophet of Allah (peace be upon him), and none of the people who heard it from the Prophet of Allah (peace be upon him) remain except myself and yourself, about covering a believer. Uqbah said: yes, I heard the Prophet of Allah (peace be upon him) say: "من ستر مؤمنا في الدنيا على خزيه ستره الله يوم القيامة"(rough translation: Whoever covers a believer in this world from his embarrassment, Allah will cover him on the Day of Judgement)Abu Ayoub al-Ansari responded: you said the truth, and then he went back to his ride, rode it, and set back to Madinah, [so fast that] an envoy which Maslamah ibn Mukhlad had sent did not catch up with him until al-A'reesh [on the borders of Egypt].

[Ma'rifat Uloom al-Hadith, pg 8]

The journeys in pursuit of Hadith played a central role in the spread and preservation of Hadith, especially until the time when the main collections of hadith were complied, as will be the topic of the next post inshaAllah.

Are you, like me, tired of discussing whether or not Obama is a Muslim and whether or not his pastor is "anti-American"? Good, because it turns out it's McCain's "spiritual guide" that is the real problem:

And a message from the director and producer, Robert Greenwald:

You may have heard of Rev. John Hagee, the McCain supporter who said God created Hurricane Katrina to punish New Orleans for its homosexual "sins." Well now meet Rev. Rod Parsley, the televangelist megachurch pastor from Ohio who hates Islam. According to David Corn of Mother Jones, Parsley has called on Christians to wage war against Islam, which he considers to be a "false religion." In the past, Parsley has also railed against the separation of church and state, homosexuals, and abortion rights, comparing Planned Parenthood to Nazis.

John McCain actively sought and received Parsley's endorsement in the presidential race. McCain has called Parsley "a spiritual guide," and he hasn't said whether he shares Parsley's vicious anti-Islam views. That's because the mainstream media refuses to ask. And so, we've taken matters into our own hands, joining Mother Jones to present the truth about McCain's pastor:Watch the video!

Since the media won't question McCain about his deeply bigoted pastor, it's up to you to call attention to this issue. Make McCain's pastor problem a major story by forwarding this video to your family, friends, and colleagues. Digg it! Anything to spread the word.

We can't let McCain get away with aligning himself with a religious leader who's called for an all-out war on Islam, someone who draws no distinctions between Muslims and violent Islamic extremists. Now is the crucial time to act.

As many of you who read my personal blog- http://affadshaikh.blogspot.com- might know I am engrossed in my spare time in devouring books on Islamic Jurisprudence and Economics. What I believe some of the readers hear might be intrigued by is the following: what makes up what many of us know as sharia is not just merely "stoning adulterers to death" or "killing apostates", some of you might even think it says to go find the infidels behind any place they might be hiding and kill them. No the SHARIA is not that, there are places where you will find things on adultery and apostasy in Islam, yet there is so much more then the "punishment" that Western media and bigots are so focused on.

The Sharia is comparable to what in Judiasm is known as the Talmudic laws. These laws govern religious practices, intercourse, marriage, contracts, interaction with gentiles, what defines a gentile and the list goes on. The laws are comprehensive. Much like Talmudic law, Abrahamic laws or Semitic rational is focused on divine revelation, unlike Greek or Roman laws that found naturalist or humanist or what we can call rationalist grounding. Where the morals and norms of society dictate the laws governing society.

Christianity did not develop this system of laws, in essence the reformation brought Protestant theology to the forefront, Luther in essence confined God to spirituality and constructed a moral system in symbiosis with secular- or rationalist- thought. What we have in the Western world today is this creation, the compartmentalization of law between the private and public sphere. Even Catholicism did not develop laws that encompassed the totality of man's affair. Part of why I believe this is the case is because the life of Jesus did not allow for a that development and more importantly he was a reformer sent by God to reform Judaism, he was Jewish.

Islam for its part had in the Prophet Muhammad a totality of experiences and a set of divine conjunctions governing human affairs. The two in essence- the Quran and the Hadith (collection of the sayings, teachings and actions of the Prophet Muhammad, the Sunnah, way of the Prophet) were collected and formed the basis of what we have today as the Sharia.

However, the Sharia is not in itself "complete" in that the Quran and Sunnah are the sources of the "laws" that make up the Sharia and are "general directives" that do not provide the methodology and procedural guidelines that ensure the appropriate use of the source. How do we know when what Hadith comes into play and not another, how the ruling for stealing another's property is detailed and what its punishment is?

That comes from Fiqh and Usul al-Fiqh. Both terms require and in depth look that cannot be done here. However Fiqh is acquired knowledge, that comes from studying and self application and is different from inherent knowledge- or knowledge like that given to the Prophet or inherent with the angel Gabriel. The following passage comes from "Principles of Islamic Jurisprudence" by Mohammad Hashim Kamali and it shines light on where we get the Sharia we have today, gives appriciation to its development and provides us with a connection to the sacrifices made to develop it and for us to preserve it under the attacks from outside and within.

When the Prophet was alive, the necessary guidance and solutions to probelms were obtained either through divine revelation, or his direct ruling. Similarly, during the period following the demise of the Prophet, the Companions remained in close contact with the teachings of the Prophet, and their decisions were mainly inspired by his precedent. Their proximity to the sources and intimate knowledge of events, provided them with the authority to rule on practical problems without there being a pressing need for methodology. However, with the expasion of the territorial domain of Islam, the Companions were dispersed and direct access to them became increasingly difficult. With this, the possibilty of confusion and error in the understanding of the textual sources became more apparent. Disputation and diversity of juristic thought in different quarters accentuated the need for clear guidelines, and the time was ripe for Al-Shafi to articulate the methodology of usul al-fiqh. Al-Shafi came on the scene when juristic controversy had become prevalent between the jurists of Medina and Iraq...This was also a time when the ulama of hadith had succedded in their efforts to collect and document the hadith. Once the fuqaha were assured of the subject-matter of the Sunnah, they began to elaborate the law, and thus the need for a methodology to regulate ijtihad became increasingly apparent. The consolidation of usul al-fiqh as a Sharia discipline was, in other words, a logical conclusion of the compilation of the vast literature of hadith.

Part of the process of developing methodology came from the expansion and the incorporation of non-Arabs. This in part made Islam distant from direct cultural influence that might corrode the message and teachings of the Prophet, in essence this development helped protect Islam in a shell and allowed the various cultures to adapt around Islam. Amazing!

Thursday, May 8, 2008

LOS ANGELES — When Ali Ardekani started fishing around on the Internet a couple of years ago for video blogs about Muslims, he did not like what he found: either the world’s 1.3 billion Muslims were depicted as bloodthirsty zealots, or they were offering defensive explanations as to why they were not.

“Arabic sounds foreign and scary — you don’t know what is going on,” Mr. Ardekani said in an interview at his small Sherman Oaks apartment, its walls decorated with Koranic verses. “Or they show a woman with the veil, who doesn’t speak, and it is assumed if she did speak she would say, ‘Help me!’ ”

So Mr. Ardekani, a 33-year-old Web designer, cast himself on his video blogs as Baba Ali, an outsize character with a serious religious message who both dissects and lampoons the lives of American Muslims.

Mr. Ardekani is among the most visible of a new wave of young American Muslim performers and filmmakers trying to change the public face of their religion. His most popular video posting — “Who Hijacked Islam?” — has garnered more than 350,000 hits on YouTube since July 2006. Of course the uphill battle such efforts face is reflected in the comments section. One viewer remarked darkly, “It’s Muslims that do the hijacking.”

These video pioneers’ arena of choice is mostly YouTube and similar Web sites, which young Muslims extol as a new way to take their arguments public. The role model is Bill Cosby, who young Muslim filmmakers believe changed the perception of African-Americans by depicting them as ordinary.

For the moment, the filmmakers suspect, most of the hits they attract are generated by other young Muslims.

“They are deprived of any type of representation in the media which isn’t a terrorist or an extremely pious Muslim,” said Lena Khan, 23. So whenever an image to the contrary is seen “on YouTube or the Internet or on a TV show, it just spreads across the Muslim community like wildfire, because everyone wants to support it.”

Wednesday, May 7, 2008

AlhamdulilAllah, just got back my first visit to Makkah and Madinah. Armed with prayers and sincere advise from friends and family, I went expecting a spiritually uplifting and relaxing vacation. I didn't get exactly what I expected, but alhamdulilAllah, I think I got something even better.

The plan was to spend the first 2 days of our 5 -day trip in Madinah and the next 3 in Makkah, and alhamdulilAllah all went as planned. We got to our hotel in Madinah just before the time for a'sr (afternoon) prayers and I rushed to make wudu` and head to the Masjid of the Beloved (may the peace and blessings of Allah be upon him). Suddenly seeing the masjidin front of me and realizing that, alhamdulilAllah, I was finally there was overwhelming.

The masjid itself is a work of art, even more so on the inside than on the outside. Pictures definitely do not do it justice. Even with the crowds of people (and sound of screaming children), it is hard not to focus in prayer and in remembrance at the Masjid of the Prophet of Allah (peace be upon him). As much as I tried mentally preparing myself, it still took me a good day to internalize the fact that the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) was buried a few meters away.

One of my dear sisters gave me some very good advise before I left: while in Madinah, remember your adab(manners) as you are in the presence of the Prophet (peace be upon him). I tried my best to follow her advise.

My favourite Madinah moment came after fajr as the dawn was "breathing" [Holy Quran, 81:18] during our last day. One of the wonderful features of the masjid are the sky roofs that open as soon as the sun begins to rise. I was directly under one of them, enjoying my favourite time of the day (staying up that extra hour really pays off - I try reminding myself) and I happened to be reading the following passages of the Holy Quran:

Allah is the Light of the heavens and the earth. The example of His light is like a niche within which is a lamp, the lamp is within glass, the glass as if it were a pearly [white] star lit from [the oil of] a blessed olive tree, neither of the east nor of the west, whose oil would almost glow even if untouched by fire. Light upon light. Allah guides to His light whom He wills. And Allah presents examples for the people, and Allah is Knowing of all things.

[Such niches are] in mosques which Allah has ordered to be raised and that His name be mentioned therein; exalting Him within them in the morning and the evenings [Are] men whom neither commerce nor sale distracts from the remembrance of Allah and performance of prayer and giving of zakah.

[An-Noor, 34-36]

Those verses meant so much more to me at that time and place.

A few hours after leaving Madinah we were entering Makkah, also just before a'sr prayer. The whole trip I was trying to anticipate my feelings upon seeing the ka'bahfor the first time. As I was making my way through the mosque I got my first close look at the ka'bah. Unlike what I expected, I didn't cry right away. A feeling of awe and humility was what first struck me.

AlhamdulilAllah, we did our umrah right after asr prayer when the crowds were less (due to the heat) and were able to get close to the kabah. It was not easy to comprehend that I was so close to the ka'bah, and from my very first visit. It was an honor I felt I didn't deserve.

Frankly, I was somewhat uneasy during the first tawaf. I tried to follow my parents' lead, focus on the prayers and avoid getting trampled by the wheelchairs. The heat and travel fatigue didn't help either. I wasn't sure what I should be feeling. I was expecting the peace and serenity of taraweeh prayers in Ramadan but it wasn't exactly that. I kept on trying.

It wasn't until the third time I did tawaf (after maghrib prayer the second day) that I began to understand the purpose of it all: submission.

I had heard hajj lectures previously which explained hajj rituals as being about remembering the struggle of Prophet Ibrahim and his family, and submission to Allah (swt) without necessarily understanding the exact purpose of the physical rituals, but somehow I hadn't thought about umrah the same way.

My favourite Makkah moment was also after fajr, as the sun was coming out. I had just finished tawaf and had sat down not too far from the ka'bah to say my morning thikr(prayer):

"I am pleased with Allah as a Lord, and Islam as a religion and Muhammad peace be upon to him as a Prophet."

Welcome to "Taliban Towers" at Guantanamo Bay, the most ghoulishly distasteful tourist destination on the planet.

As these astonishing mementoes show, the US authorities are promoting the world's most notorious prison camp as a cheap hideaway for American sunseekers – a revelation that has drawn international anger and condemnation.

Just yards from the shelves of specially branded mugs and cuddly toys, nearly 300 "enemy combatants" lie sweltering in a waking nightmare.

It is six years since foreign prisoners, many captured in Afghanistan, were first taken to this US-occupied corner of Cuba. Yet even now, no charges have been brought against them.

While the detainees lie incarcerated, visitors can windsurf, take boat trips and go fishing for grouper, tuna, red snapper and swordfish.

The United States' 1.5million service personnel and Guantanamo's 3,000 construction workers are eligible to visit the "resort", which boasts a McDonald's, KFC and a bowling alley.

They even have a Wal-Mart supermarket.

The vacation comes at a knock-down price: just $42 (£20) per night for a suite of air-conditioned rooms, including a kitchen, bathroom, living room and bedrooms.

But it is the souvenirs that have led to the greatest criticism. One T-shirt from the gift shop is decorated with a guard tower and barbed wire. It reads: "The Taliban Towers at Guantanamo Bay, the Caribbean's Newest 5-star Resort."

Another praises "the proud protectors of freedom". A third displays a garish picture of an iguana and states: "Greetings from paradise GTMO resort and spa fun in the Cuban sun."

There are mugs inscribed with "kisses from Guantanamo" and "Honor Bound To Defend Freedom".

The Guantanamo holiday trade was exposed by Zachary Katznelson, a British-based human rights lawyer and spokesman for Reprieve, the group leading the international campaign against the camp.

"When I see the conditions the prisoners have to cope with and then think of the T-shirt slogans, I am appalled," he said. "To say I am repulsed is an understatement. Unbelievable as it may seem, the US authorities are proud of the 'souvenirs' and what they are doing."

Mr Katznelson represents 28 of the detainees and makes regular visits to the prison.

"The military keeps a tight hold on everything that is available in Guantanamo Bay and someone senior has given their approval for this disgusting nonsense," he said.

Tuesday, May 6, 2008

My Sunday column is about the remaining 270 prisoners at Guantanamo, which is a national disgrace. One reason is simply the injustice of keeping innocent people in abusive conditions — a far harsher regime than that faced by convicted murderers in the United States. The inmates at Guantanamo haven’t had visits or phone calls with family members for more than six years of confinement, and the authorities constantly play games with them. For example, one of those I mention in the column is al-Ghizzawi, a Libyan who is suffering from extreme health problems. The authorities boasted of giving him glasses. But, according to his lawyer, the glasses are distance glasses, when he is in confined to a tiny cell. What he desperately wants is reading glasses.

My doubts about the official line has steadily grown, partly because of the number of military lawyers and officers who have come forward and said that Guantanamo is a travesty. I was also shaken when I wrote about the case of Sean Baker, an American soldier who was asked to play a Guantanamo inmate in a training exercise. The other soldiers didn’t realize that he was only playing his role and beat him so badly that he is permanently disabled — and the military has treated him wretchedly as well.

MANILA, Philippines - More than 200 million children worldwide under age 5 do not get basic health care, leading to nearly 10 million deaths annually from treatable ailments like diarrhea and pneumonia, a U.S.-based charity said Wednesday.

Nearly all of the deaths occur in the developing world, with poor children facing twice the risk of dying compared to richer children, according to Save the Children's global report.

Sweden, Norway and Iceland top the ranking in terms of well-being for mothers and children in 146 countries surveyed, while Nigeria ranks last.

Eight out of 10 bottom-ranked countries are in sub-Saharan Africa, where four out of five mothers are likely to lose a child in their lifetime, Save the Children said.

Monday, May 5, 2008

Let's face it. The question is on everybody's mind, particularly in the Southern California Muslim community. It's to be expected. We're averaging one engagement announcement a week. Additionally, it's not unheard of to end up attending several wedding parties a month (sometimes all in the same weekend).

So I ask again, are you looking to get married? If your answer to that is "yes" it appears MS Office is looking to help you out. How? They're attempting to save you from the worst faux pas ever by providing "marriage resume" (a.k.a. bio-data) templates!

Is the word "victimized" referring to the children being "child soldiers" or the fact they are oppresssed by the Israelis? And notice the circle above the Palestinian flag? That's the West Bank and Gaza--their corrupted definition of Palestine. If it is a Pro-Palestinian shirt, they are very wrong in defining what Palestine is.

Thursday, May 1, 2008

Criticizing the government is a difficult task, for not only adverse comments but reprisals and persecution is also feared. Muslims have been encouraged to speak out the truth and take a bold stand in such situations too. That is Jihad in the true sense of the word. A person about to embark upon a battle (in the cause of Allah) asked the Prophet SAW "What type of Jihad ranks highest?" The Prophet SAW responded, "Truth spoken out before an oppressive ruler".

-Mohammad Nejatullah Siddiqqi, Aspects of Islamic Economy

Something that I found through out Islamic history was this complecency toward oppressive and dictatorial rulers, and now governments. It never made sense to me but the more I read the more I understood that Islam prefers order in society so that people can perform the Sunnah without obstruction. However, it was clear to me that when one was unable to perform the Fard and the ruler/regime was at fault, then the government must be taken down.

I understood this due to the numerous hadith, some of which are listed below:

A Muslim is obliged to listen and obey whether he likes the commands or not, as long as he is not asked to sin against God. But if asked to sin he should neither listen nor obey.

and

Listen to your ruler and obey him as long as he leads you by the Book of Allah, even if the ruler be a disfigured black

and

obedience to rulers is not valid where a disobedience to Allah is involved.

That makes me think that criticism/dissent historically does not have a place in Muslim political thought? Yet its human nature to disagree. I found the quote above to be the first instance of developing an understanding on how political differences are dealt with outside the above hadith.

May Day occurs on May 1 and refers to any of several public holidays.[1] In many countries, May Day is synonymous with International Workers' Day, or Labour Day, which celebrates the social and economic achievements of the labor movement. As a day of celebration, however, the holiday has ancient origins and can relate to many customs that have survived into modern times. Many of these customs are due to May Day being a cross-quarter day, meaning that it falls approximately halfway between an equinox and a solstice....May Day can refer to various labour celebrations conducted on May 1 that commemorate the fight for the eight hour day. May Day in this regard is called International Workers' Day, or Labour Day. The choice of May 1st was a commemoration by the Second International for the people involved in the 1886 Haymarket affair in Chicago, Illinois. As the culmination of three days of labor unrest in the United States, the Haymarket incident was a source of outrage and admiration from people around the globe. In countries other than the United States and Canada, residents sought to make May Day an official holiday and their efforts largely succeeded.

For this reason, in most of the world today, May Day has become an international celebration of the social and economic achievements of the labour movement. Although May Day received its inspiration from the United States, the U.S. Congress designated May 1 as Loyalty Day in 1958 due to the day's appropriation by the Soviet Union.[4] Alternatively, Labor Day traditionally occurs sometime in September in the United States. Some view this as an effort to isolate American workers from the worldwide community.

Yes, this holiday also had religious origins. However, unlike Christmas or Halloween I'd say it has fully evolved. May Day has a no (or at least fewer) religious remnants while one might argue Christmas is still a very religious holiday. Further, it's current form serves a purpose greater than wasting money on costumes and potentially inflating your dentist's bill (i.e. Halloween).

If you're going to celebrate only one "Western" holiday, my vote goes to May Day!

Muslamics?

The term Muslamics is a cross between Muslims and Islamics, and makes light of the many erroneous labels placed upon Muslims.

As Muslims living in America, we are part of a daily struggle to define ourselves and forge new identities, at a time when our community, and specifically Muslim activists, are in the limelight. Part of this struggle is to reclaim our language.

We are proud to be Muslims and we believe it is part of our duty to convey to others who we are and what we stand for. Therefore, we will take the name Muslamics - originally used as a derogatory term against Muslims - and expose the ignorance behind it, as well as give it a new and positive meaning.